Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy, has received Mohammad Reza Fayyaz, Iran's Ambassador to the UAE, to discuss ways of enhancing economic relations between the two countries and engaging their private sectors in looking into investment opportunities and joint projects.

During the meeting at his office, Al Mansouri received an invitation from Iran's Economic Affairs and Finance, Ali Tayeb-Nia, to lead a UAE delegation to Iran to discuss trade and economic relations.

He noted that the efforts of the Higher UAE-Iranian Joint Commission focused on enhancing economic relations led to the signing of an agreement on setting up an Emirati-Iranian business council and a memorandum of understanding between the Federation of UAE Chambers of Commerce and Industry and Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines.

Noting that the two countries are making efforts to expand their cooperation in various economic, investment and industrial spheres, Al Mansouri added that Iran comes fourth in terms of the relative importance for the UAE's foreign trade with non-oil trade between the two countries amounting to US$17 billion in 2014.

Underscoring the importance of promoting cooperation in civil aviation with Iran, the UAE minister noted that 200 flights a week are being operated between the two countries to boost tourism and enhance cooperation between their business communities.

Ambassador Fayyaz stressed that Al Mansouri's visit to Iran is important for looking into investment opportunities in Iranian cities as well as for promoting investments in the UAE.